The Institute star Ben Barnes calls the show similar to Stranger Things

There are many reasons why Stranger Things fans will be intrigued by the upcoming series adaptation of the 2019 Stephen King novel, The Institute. In a recent conversation with Radio Time, Ben Barnes, who plays Tim Jamieson on the show, calls the show similar to the Duffer brothers' show while discussing the ways their show stands completely apart from it and only falls under the same genre.

Here's what Barnes revealed about the similarities and differences between The Institute and Stranger Things.

The Institute star Ben Barnes discusses the likeness of the show to Stranger Things

The upcoming MGM+ series, set to premiere on July 13, follows a group of young children who possess unusual abilities, much like Millie Bobby Brown's Eleven, intriguing fans of the show. The show centers around Luke Ellis, a 12-year-old genius who is kidnapped and wakes up at The Institute, a place full of children who, much like him, have supernatural abilities. Time Jamieson, played by Barnes, is a former police officer who comes into the small town looking for peace, only to discover some strange happenings around him.

Barnes reveals that the show has similar tension and intensity to Stranger Things and that there are some similarities in terms of having special kids, but The Institute has some more layers to it, including a detective-like story, which makes it stand apart from the Netflix original.

"The Institute has a similar kind of, like, gripping tension to it, that I think Stranger Things does. But it also has that quiet, almost detective-like story to it as well. So it marries a few different things which might feel familiar, but then get sort of bent out of shape. I don't think it's derivative at all, but it definitely... there'll be things that people find familiar, hopefully."

He adds that having similar themes to the Netflix show could be a blessing in disguise for their show, considering its success. However, where Stranger Things had a more Spielbergian and '80s vibe, their show has a much darker and edgier vibe, something that Barnes and Ben Cavell, the creator and writer-producer, have been committed to from the start. He added that if a viewer enjoyed the Netflix show:

"There's no reason you won't adore our show, but the difference is, Stranger Things was very Spielbergian and ‘80s, right? And I always say it was more like a crayon drawing. But I will say that Ben and my approach to this has always been, let's make this a little bit more of a dark ink version of that. Let's make this a little more edgy."

Declining all possibilities of a derivative show, Barnes adds that the biggest point of contention was that Stranger Things has a lot of monsters, something which is very much not present in The Institute, except the monstrosity that humans carry within themselves.

Nevertheless, fans of the Netflix original are bound to enjoy this show, according to Barnes, owing to a similar genre and some themes.

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